1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the selective attachment of molecules to surfaces and more specifically to the selective patterning of molecules upon surfaces.
2. Description of the Background Art
There is considerable interest in the biosensor and medical diagnostic communities in developing multiplexed immunosensors for the simultaneous detection of multiple antigens. The key feature of immunosensors is the coupling of an antibody or antigen to a solid support which facilitates the binding and separation of antibodies or antigens from a sample for detection. Single analyte immunoassays and sensors have been successfully developed to detect and measure pharmaceuticals, biomolecules, explosives and environmental toxins. However, the widespread exploitation of this technology has been limited by a number of problems. Prime among these problems are the non-specific binding of biomolecules to the solid support, reproducible device fabrication, rapid, simultaneous detection of a number of analytes, and miniaturization of the immunosensor for field use. Strategies have been developed to deal with non-specific binding by blocking the surface regions which do not contain coupled antibody or antigen through coating of those surface areas with proteins such as BSA, streptavidin or deglycosylated forms of avidin or through novel encapsulation and antibody labeling strategies. The needs for miniaturization and multiple analyte detection are the driving forces behind efforts to develop array biosensors which have a number of different antibodies coupled to a solid support. Development of such a biosensor requires the immobilization of dense, well-resolved arrays of the antibodies to maximize antigen binding. Consequently, novel deposition and immobilization techniques which minimize non-specific binding will have to be employed. Current efforts to fabricate such a device involve the use of photolithographic techniques and jet printing to couple multiple proteins and other biomolecules, such as DNA, to solid supports in high resolution patterns.